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Introducing the Fire Ant The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Buren), is an introduced species that arrived in Mobile, Alabama in the soil of potted plants or on the ballasts
of ships arriving from South America around the 1930s. This species has had an enormous impact in the southeastern United States, and continues to spread into areas of North America with
mild climates and adequate moisture and food. The red imported fire ant reached Texas during the 1950s and has spread steadily across the state. | (13.0K) |
Fire ants use their stingers to immobilize or kill prey and to defend their ant mounds from disturbances. Any disturbance
to the mound sends hundreds of workers out to attack anything that moves. A fire ant grabs its victim with its mandibles (mouth parts) and then inserts its stinger. As the ant stings the
intruder it injects venom that causes a burning sensation and subsequent blistering (hence their name). An individual ant can sting multiple times, and sting sites may develop pustules
and secondary infections. The composition of fire ant venom is complex: 95% of the venom is composed of water insoluble piperidine alkaloids responsible for the local reaction at the sting
site and the remaining 5% made up of several allergenic proteins. Formic acid is an important component of fire ant venom and the fire ants may be as dangerous as bees and wasps. |
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(0.0K) | One of the components of fire ant toxin has the following chemical analysis, 26.09% carbon, 69.52 % oxygen, and 4.38% hydrogen.
The molar mass of this substance is 46.0256 g/mol. Determine the empirical and molecular formula of this molecule. |
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(0.0K) | How many molecules of the compound referred to in problem 1 are present in an ant bite that contains 1.00 microgram of this
substance? |
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(0.0K) | Another component of fire ant venom has the following chemical composition: 70.5% carbon, 13.0% hydrogen, 16.5% nitrogen.
The molar mass of this molecule is 85.14 g/mol. Determine both the empirical and molecular formula of this molecule. |
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(0.0K) | If each ant bite contained 0.500 micrograms of the compound determined in problem 3, how many molecules would it contain? |
(1.0K) | Useful Web Sites: Facts about fire ants Imported Fire Ants Black Fire Ant Sting |
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